Kruger here. Mom’s been leaving the computer a little more unattended these days, so I thought I’d speak up while I have the chance. There’s a lot happening around here lately, and to be honest, I’m pretty stressed out. For months, mom and dad were always asking me about this “baby,” sometimes even calling it my baby. They made it sound like being a big brother was going to be great fun, and like I should be excited for said baby to arrive. Well. I’m finally putting two and two together, and I’ve realized that this “baby” they were talking about all along is the tiny, loud, curious being who showed up at home almost two weeks ago, and who has been taking the place by storm.

I really don’t understand it. Mom and dad were pretty fascinated with me at one point. I am, after all, numero uno in the pecking order around here. I figured being the eldest would have its fair share of privileges, but it pretty much stinks. Now people pay attention to me when I have to go outside, or when I get too close to the new guy, but that’s about it. I basically spend whole afternoons just hiding away upstairs while the house buzzes with visitors and the baby makes 101 sounds that are unfamiliar and hard to interpret.

And the evenings? Oh, the evenings! So much for putting myself to bed and sleeping soundly through the night. Not anymore. Nope. These days, I’m up with mom and dad at every cry. If I cried in the middle of the night, maybe I could get some attention, too…but that’s just not how I roll.

So I’ve been trying to stay a little more out of the way and feeling like it could be a while before anything is normal again. I can tell that mom and dad feel badly sometimes, because they’ve been giving me extra treats and inviting me over to see the baby when they can protect him and tell me if my nose gets too nosy for comfort. I think they’re trying to be gentle, but with everything going on, I know it’s hard to find extra patience for a big lug like me. I’m not begging for sympathy here–it just feels good to get it off my chest.

At any rate, I do trust mom and dad when they tell me that I’ll like this “Henry” someday, and that we’re going to be best buds. I really can’t see how at the moment, but they haven’t led me astray before, so why would they now? In the meantime, I just look forward to visits from grandparents and other people who can love a dog like me. A walk around the block every so often is nice, and a rub behind the ears does a lab good. Maybe Henry will be able to help with all of that someday. I mean, if he drops enough Cheerios, I guess I could see myself liking him at some stage…

Here’s the little guy today (c’mon, we know mom will post like a million more photos tomorrow):

Yeah, OK. So he’s cute. Fine.

mildly disgruntled, but hanging in there,

kruger (on behalf of mm)